Russia swims into third place

An outstanding performance by Russia's synchronised swimmers has taken Russia into third place on the Olympic medal standings. In the final two days of the Games it faces a tough battle with Britain to hold on to the spo

Russia's eight-member synchronised swimming team scored ten full marks in the free routine programme to win a gold medal with a staggering total of 99.500 points. This brings Russia's gold medal tally up to nineteen.

Earlier in the day Maxim Opalev secured a gold medal in the men's 500 metre canoe singles. It is the first Olympic gold of his career, which includes two previous Olympic outings.